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Does anyone know how the kanji for "eye" and "tea" came to be joined to mean
"disorderly"? (I am a beginning student and cannot read advanced monolingual
dictionaries.) Googling didn't bring up any answers.


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2023-08-06T18:06:32.790
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question
etymology ateji
Etymology of 目茶目茶


Kanji spellings for both むちゃ （無茶） and めちゃ （滅茶／目茶） are examples of
[ateji](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ateji) (当{あ}て字{じ}), kanji used only for
their phonetic value and **not** for their meanings.

According to dictionaries,
[めちゃ](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%BB%85%E8%8C%B6-643954) developed as sound
shift from [むちゃ](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%84%A1%E8%8C%B6-641920).


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2023-08-06T23:48:14.230
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answer